Ignition breaker



Feb. 1, 1938. c v CHERMENDY 2,106,721

IGNITION BREAKER Filed June 17, 1935 L 1 67 A; 497 do I N VENTOR.

(a?! a BY ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 1, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IGNITION nassxn M V. chemically, Gringo, 111., aligns!- to Frieda Osenncndy, Chicago, Ill.

Application June 17, 1935, Serial No. 26.806 '1 Claims. some) This invention relates in general to a circuit breaker and has more particular reference to the ignition breakers commonly used in automobiles.

One of the objectionable features in setting and adjusting the contact points of the circuit breakers now commonly employed in automobiles is that it is almost impossible to set or to maintain the breaker points in alignment due to the fact that the sparks occur between two small fiat circular discs, so that if one disc is slightly inclinedto the other or if the discs are not in axial alignment, the sparking will occur between the closest surfaces, resulting in uneven wear,

pitting and the breaker soon becomes unduly noisy, and inefilcient.

The present invention provides a difi'erent type oi breaker which may be substituted for the breaker arms and fixed breaker points in the present type of equipment and thereby used as a 2; replacement therefor.

A further object of the invention is in the provision of an ignition breaker having an insulating holder in which there is a common bore for the fixed and movable contacts insuring that the contact faces be held in alignment, thereby eliminating wear and pitting of the surfaces. and eliminating noise. This breaker also prevents inefilcient or inaccurate setting, installation and adjustment of the points, thereby resulting in greater length of service and a better and more continuous spark because of the alignment and flat engagement of the contact element.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the accompanying drawing illustrating a.

preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing. Fig. 1 is a plan view with one of the breakers in section, of an ignition breaker as now commonly used in automobiles;

Fig. 2 is a modification of one of the breakers;

Fig. 3 shows a modification of a closed type of breaker;

Fig. 4 is a view of a breaker similar to that shown in Fig. 3 with a diflerent type of holding spring; and

Fig. 5 shows still another modification of a circult breaker of this type.

In circuit breakers of the type now used in automobiles, a movable metal breaker arm is mounted upon a fixed pivot pin at one end of the arm and carries a breaker contact at the other end which makes and breaks an electric circuit with an adjustable fixed contact separate from the breaker arm. In the present invention the fixed and movable contact members are mounted within a fibrous or insulating holder which may be substituted for the breaker arm now commonly employed and adjustably set in position so that the movable contact member is operated by the same breaker cam but is always held in fixed alignment with the fixed breaker member regardless of the variation of adjustment of the breaker itself with respect to its distance from the breaker cam.

Referring now more particularly to the draw- -ing, ignition breakers of this type are usually mounted in a housing ll having a central rotating shaft H upon which a breaker cam I2 is secured. In the housing is a plate I 3 to which an adjustable plate It is pivoted and these plates are usually adjustable in the housing and the plate It has a set screw II and an adjustment screw it for varying and holding it in position on the plate It.

The ignition breaker of this invention is applied to a mounting structure as described, by means of upright bearing pins i1 and it but instead of an ignition breaker arm mounted for rocking movement by engagement with the cam II, the present invention comprises a relatively fixed holder 20 of insulating material such as 2 fibre, bakelite, and the'like, which'has an opening 2| to fit the bearing pin H or it of an ordinary insulation and also an enlarged opening 22 for receiving an adjustment or set screw 28 by means of which the holder may be secured in any set position on its supporting plate with respect to the breaker cam.

In the breaker shown by Fig. 1, there is a transverse bore 24 through the holder having an enlargement 25 at one end for seating a spring 28, and a slot 21 intersecting the bore and providing axially aligned portions for receiving a relatively fixed contact member 2| in the outer side of the holder and a relatively movable contact member 29 in the inner side of the holder having an enlarged head for engaging one end of the spring 26 so that the spring which engages the bottom of the recess 25 at its other end tends to hold the engagement head in contact with the cam II. The relatively fixed member 28 in this form and also in Fig. 2 is supported at its outer end by a flat spring ll which engages a projection II at the outer end of the contact member 28 so that'when the inner or contact end of the member 28 is engaged by the inner end of the movable member is. it will yield slightly to take up any excess movement which may be imparted by the cam.

In the form shown by Fig. 2, the spring for the movable member as is replaced by a fiat spring 33 which has one end inserted in a slot 34 in the holder II, and the other end extends over the contact end of the movable member 2!.

To complete an ignition circuit, conductors have suitable terminals 3' to be engaged and held by fastening nuts 31 threaded on the movable members 2! and accessible in the slots 21, and the movable members 28 are connected by springs ll to a holding screw 8| which also constitutes a binding screw for a connector strap 3! extending between the opposite breakers and having an intermediate tab ll for connecting it by means of a screw Ii to the plate ll and thence to ground.

In the forms shown by Figs. 3 and 4, a breaker block I is provided with parallel transverse bores II and 41 in which bearing sleeves ll are tightly inserted or cast so that an adjustable fixed contact ll may be inserted in one of the bearing sleeves. and a contact member it is movable in the other aligned bearing sleeve with end contact suriaca located in a transverse slot 5| intersecting the bore 4'. Extending through the bore l! is an operating bar 2 having a contact head a at one end and having a fixed connection with the movable contact member II at the other end, comprising a metal plate I which causes them tobe moved in unison. A curved tension spring it bears at one end upon the plate 53 between the ends thereof and is connected to the holder by a fastening screw 38 as in the construction shown in Fig. 1.

Instead of an outside bearing spring 54, an ignition holder 00 as shown in Fig. 4, may be provided with a recess ii surrounding the bar no so that a spring i2 may be seated therein with one end bearing against the bottom of the recess and the other end bearing against the head 53a.

In the form shown by Fig. 5, a holder 10 has a transversely movable contact member II with a spring I2 seated in a recess 13 and tending to press the member against the cam and the outer relatively fixed contact member 14 is secured to a fiat spring 15 having coils at the ends for mounting it upon spaced bearing pins 15 so that the fixed contact H will give slightly under contact pressure from the movable member II. A conductor 11 may be electrically connected to either one of the bearing pins 18 for completing the electrical circuit which is broken by the contacts.

In all of these forms it should be understood that the extremities of the fixed and movable members are provided with contact discs of tungsten, platinum, or other suitable material which makes a fiat contact surface and resists pitting, in accordance with well known present practice, which constitutes no part oi the present invention.

The constructions herein described are intended to be so proportioned that they may be inserted bodily in place of the movable breaker arms and fixed contacts now being used, and also they may be applied and adjusted without the addition of other parts and devices. It is also contemplated that the supporting plates i3 and i4, together with the ignition breakers, may be bodily applied to and removed as a unit from the breaker housings now supplied and used, it being necessary only to make the necessary electrical connections.

I claim:

1. A replacement part for ignition breakers comprising a block of insulating material adapted to bebodily substituted fora pivoted metal circuit breaker arm, means for adjustablysetting and holding the block in a fixed position adjacent an ignition breaker operating cam, the block having a continuous bore therethrough, a contact fixed in one end of the bore having a contact face at its inner end, and another contact movable in the bore from the other end by a breaker cam and having its contact face at the inner end and always in fixed alignment to flatly engage that of the fixed contact.

2. An insulating replacement breaker part according to claim 1 in which the block has an opening at one end to engage the usual pivoting screw 0! an ignition breaker and a slot at a distance from the opening as a center for receiving the binding screw oi a metal ignition part for adjustabiy securing the block in fixed position.

3. A replacement ignition breaker part in accordance with claim 1 in which one contact member is adjustably fixed in the bore, and the other contact member has a spring carried by the block and tending to press the member longitudinally in the bore.

4. In an insulating ignition breaker block according to claim 1, metal sleeves secured at the ends of the bores in which the contacts are mounted, the fixed contact being adjustably threaded in its sleeve.

5. In a replacement part ior ignition breakers, a single block of insulating material having a bore therethrough and a slot intersecting the bore intermediate its ends, a contact member adjustably fixed in one end of the bore and projecting into the slot, another contact member movable in the other end of the bore, and the members having end contacts which are located to engage flatly and in alignment in the said slot.

6. A replaceable part in accordance with claim 5 having a spring surrounding the movable member in the holder, hearing at one end against the holder and at the other end against the member, tending to press it outwardly from the bore, and meeting in the slot when it engages the fixed member.

7. A replacement part for ignition breakers comprising a single block of insulating material having parallel bores therethrough, a contact member adjustabiy fixed in one bore, another contact member movable in the same bore to engage the fixed member, a movable bar extending through the other bore having a head for cam engagement at one end, a connector secured at the other end and to the end oi the movable contact member, and spring means tending to hold the fixed and movable contact members together.

CARL V. CHERMENDY. 

